Bridget Carleton’s contributions to Lynx go well beyond her statistics

She has been with the Lynx since 2019. She is coming off a career year, has played in the Olympics, is a big reason why the Lynx went to the WNBA Finals last season and have started this season 3-0 heading into Friday’s game with Connecticut at Target Center.

And we’re not talking about Napheesa Collier, but rather Bridget Carleton.

Take a look at a boxscore and you might not see particularly gaudy numbers. She hasn’t scored 85 points through three games like Collier, dished out 26 assists like Courtney Williams or pulled down 28 rebounds like Jessica Shepard.

But there is a reason why Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve has stuck with Carleton since the 6-2 forward first signed a seven-day contract with the team in August 2019. And if it’s not always apparent in a boxscore, it’s clear to Reeve.

“That what we said to some of our new staff,” Reeve said. “BC has value, but until you’re up close and personal, you don’t understand all the things she does to help you win.’’

Reeve said this after the Lynx had won their second game of the season, 89-75 Sunday in Los Angeles.

It was a classic Carleton game: Eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals. There was a key dive to the floor in the fourth quarter that saved a possession. There was defense on the Sparks’ Rickea Jackson, who scored eight points on 4-for-11 shooting.

“You don’t walk out of here with Bridget Carleton’s name top of mind,” Reeve said. “But from our standpoint, she was absolutely vital.”

But not necessarily obvious.

“The average fan probably wouldn’t know or think I bring a lot more than that the boxscore says,” said Carleton, a member of the Team Canada squad that played at the Olympics in France. “Sometimes I’m scoring. Sometimes I’m affecting the game in other ways. There are so many ways to affect winning, and I take pride in that every single possession.”

Carleton’s game has been growing from the start. In college she was an undersized, high-scoring power forward for Iowa State who, by her own admission, wasn’t always exactly locked in on defense.

A second-round pick (No. 21 overall) by Connecticut in 2019, she was waived by the Sun in July. In August, she signed a seven-day contract with the Lynx. Shortly after that, late in a game already decided, Reeve put Carleton on the floor, and she did something strikingly simple. She used her dribble to draw a double team and made a simple, on-time, on-target pass.

“You would think that everyone does that,” Reeve sad. “No. they don’t. With BC, the things that should be simple are simple to her.”

In the years since, Carleton has worked on her body to get quicker. She can guard just about any position. Always a reliable three-point shooter, she has worked on her game — and her confidence — to be able to do more.

Pushed into the starting lineup last season after Diamond Miller was hurt, Carleton set career highs in scoring (9.6), minutes (29.8), three-point shooting percentage (.444) and rebounds (3.8). This season, she has yet to find the three-point range, but her minutes are up over 34 per game and she’s averaging 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

And her defense continues to improve.

“I think I have a high [basketball] IQ,” Carleton said. “I understand the game. That helps on the defensive end. I’m not the most athletic, the tallest, jump highest. But I’m able to kind of anticipate what’s happening before it happens.”

In Wednesday’s home-opening 85-81 victory over Dallas, Carleton had Wings guard Paige Bueckers as her primary assignment. And while the rookie from Hopkins finished with 12 points and 10 assists, she shot only 3-for-11 from the floor and had two turnovers.

There is a reason Carleton is currently the team’s leader in minutes per game. Reeve trusts her.